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Fragmentation
Click here
to listen June 27, 2009:
It's my opinion that Christianity
is not a religion, but a reality. But for this study
I'll call it a religion. Unlike other religions of the world, it
has divided or splintered into many denominations.
Therefore it is fragmented. Even some of the
denominations have fragmented within themselves. Did you
ever wonder why that is? When we think of fragmentation,
we tend to think of something blown apart, kinda like a bomb
that has exploded. Something destroyed. That isn't so with
Christianity. Let's look at the three largest religions of
the world. If
you're a Christian, before you get excited or turned off by
the above statement, you may want to go to the bottom of the
page and read the last paragraph. ......
Click
here to do that
The Hindu religion:
It's the third largest religion of the world and has
approximately four, (4), denominations.
The religion of Islam:
It's the second largest religion of the world and has
approximately seven, (7), denominations.
Christianity:
The largest religion of the world. I've read reports that
claim there are over
thirty eight thousand, (that's 38,000), denominations
worldwide. Whether this is true or not I don't know. For this
study I'm going to say hundreds in the United States and many
more worldwide.
That will be sufficient for what this study is intended. About 33 percent of the world population is
Christian, with the United States, Mexico, and Brazil being
the three largest Christian national populations.
To have so many mini-beliefs, (I'll call
them
fragments), within a central belief, to me the natural
thought would be that that religion could not stand. Within the
Christian Bible Itself there are verses which pretty much states
that very thing.
Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew
their thoughts, and said unto them,
Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house
divided against itself shall
not stand: Luke
12:51 Suppose ye that I
am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather
division[1]:
1
"DIVISION": 1267. diamerismos, dee-am-er-is-mos';
from G1266; disunion (of opinion and conduct):--division.
1266. diamerizo,
dee-am-er-id'-zo; from G1223 and G3307; to partition
thoroughly (lit. in distribution, fig. in
dissension):--cloven, divide, part.
John 7:43 So there was a
division among the people because of him.
The Him being Jesus.
Sometimes even family
members believe different.
Luke 12:52
For from henceforth there
shall be five in one house divided,
three against two, and two against three.
Luke 12:53
The father shall be
divided against the son,
and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and
the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her
daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Why would God allow this
among His people? What would be the purpose? Well, God has a
plan. It starts in Genesis 1:1 and ends at Revelation 22:21.
There are things that has to happen. Good things and bad things.
The Bible must be fulfilled as It is written. As is stated in
John 7:43 above, Jesus Himself was the cause of division and in
Luke 12:51 above Jesus even stated that He came to spread
division. Personally I think He meant division in
Christianity.
1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God:
All of the Christian
churches I've been in appear to accept the above verse, and that
is, that Jesus came in the flesh and not only that, but that He
was and is the only begotten Son of God. So why can't they get
along? I've seen Christians within a single congregation get so
upset with each other that I expected to see a literal fight. It
appears that we as Christians accept pagan religions quicker
than we can accept the way a fellow Christian combs his or her
hair, the clothes he or she wears, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib,
or no rapture at all. It's really amazing that such a religion
can survive. I don't think a religion could. I'll repeat my
opening sentence. It is my opinion that Christianity
is not a religion, but a reality.
The reality is that Christianity has
not only survived but is the largest single belief in the entire
world. How can this be? I think the answer lies in the first
book of the Bible. Genesis.
At the tower of Babel:
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one[1],
and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now
nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined[2]
to do.
1
"ONE": 259. 'echad, ekh-awd'; a numeral from H258;
prop. united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal)
first:--a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any
(-thing), apiece, a certain [dai-] ly, each (one), + eleven,
every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only, other,
some, together.
258.
'achad, aw-khad'; perh. a prim. root; to unify,
i.e. (fig.) collect (one's thoughts):--go one way
or other.
2
"IMAGINED": 2161. zamam, zaw-mam'; a prim. root;
to plan, usually in a bad sense:--consider, devise,
imagine, plot, purpose, think (evil).
There's an old saying,
"The imagination is the greatest nation of all." As it
states, "Nothing will be restrained from them, which they
have imagined to do."
I tend to believe that
Christianity is so powerful, and if we as Christians
could agree and come together on a specific cause, there is
nothing we couldn't do. If we had our way, there would be
peace on earth, plenty for all, the whole world population would
believe as we do, etc. The Christians have put men on the
moon, sent and continue to send flying craft throughout the
universe. The Christian nations are the most powerful on
the planet. It's a matter of timing and God's plan must be
fulfilled. Just because we're Christians doesn't mean
that we know all there is to know about God's plan. He's
certainly not going to allow us to have our way. We must be
patient. Until God's proper time, Christians will be as
fragmented and confused as those at the tower of Babel.
God is in complete control.
Thanks, for allowing me, to share this with you. Remember, to
always,
study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun
profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness.
In His Word,
Art Porter
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